Shameless
by the Black Rose
Summary: From fifteen to one of the fifty sexiest stars, Relena Darlian, the former Queen of the World has held the public's interest in everything from her policy on foreign affairs to the color of her panties
1. There ain't that much left of me

**Shameless**

by the Black Rose

**Prologue: There ain't that much left of me**

Heero took the last swig of his beer and contemplated throwing it at the television screen. Instead, he deposited it next to the growing pile of discarded bottles on his coffee table. He glared at the reporter on his TV, one finger poised on the remote. He had been flipping channels, but a camera shot of her face had stopped the signal from reaching the box. Or maybe it had kept him from pressing the button.

Relena… 

"We caught up with the Vice Foreign Minister at a silent charity auction Saturday night. The blond diplomat attended with tattooed rocker, Timmy Key…." The television footage showed Relena in a light blue dress that fell to her ankles, accompanied by a thug. He was tall, thin, with black, spiky hair and one of those thin-lipped smiles that looked like he knew something Heero didn't.

_Relena, I can't. Your position—_

"Key is currently taking a break from traveling with his band, Stain, while awaiting trial on charges of drug possession." 'Timmy' sported a pair of sunglasses and a sleeveless tuxedo that showed every filthy tattoo. Earrings in each ear, and chains at the neck, he looked completely out of place next to Relena and the others at the event.

"To hell with position, Heero." 

Heero clicked the button to turn it off and threw the remote at the table. Empty bottles scattered with the intrusion. Several hit the floor, but didn't shatter.

_"Don't I have a right to be happy? Don't you?_

What the hell was she doing? This was the third loser boyfriend in twice as many weeks. Why was she dating these guys?

_You misunderstood. Your position makes any public association between you and I…difficult. But I have no desire for a deeper relationship between us, Relena. _

Stain boy was wearing a torn suit, a nauseating grin that just begged to be wiped off and had been arrested? Relena had dated some marginally pathetic guys in the last few weeks, but having a record was a new low.

_No desire…_

_No relationship…_

_No—_

"Relena…"

They were the seeds of nightmares, those words. They followed him everywhere, always one step behind, or lurking in shadowed corners. They strung thick cobwebs through his mind, forbidding him to forget that he had uttered them.

To her.

The memory haunted him on every TV screen that showed her face. _It's none of my business. _

The Preventer growled at the darkened monitor and repeated the mantra in his head. If Relena wanted to associate with criminals, it had nothing to do with him. She had security staff charged with watching over her and ensuring her protection. Tattooed rockers with drug habits, in Heero's book, should be forbidden, but he had to believe Preventer knew what they were doing.

But did Relena know what she was doing…to him?


	2. I don't have a prayer

Shameless

by the Black Rose

Chapter 1 - I don't have a prayer

Heero could feel the magazine's presence behind him – sitting on the table, taunting him, practically screaming for his attention. He stood staring out the window, trying to ignore the damned thing even though he had been the one to buy it, bring it home, and tear through it like a madman. He closed his eyes and tried to clear the red haze from his vision.

_It's none of my business. None. I took myself off her guard duty. _

The image of her from page fifty-three leapt out and burrowed its way into his head: her hair mussed, and full, sticky, red lips pouting seductively at anyone who opened the cover. He whirled around, and slammed his hand down on the table. His fingers sunk into and crushed the pages with his fist before he hurled it across the room. It struck the far wall with a thud before fluttering to the ground. The publication mocked him and landed right side up, the title gleaming off the glossy page: CSM's 50 Sexiest Stars. SHE smiled up at him from a tile on the cover, top button undone - the camera angle just caught the swell of her cleavage above a white, lacy bra.

_How DARE they? _

Heero felt his nostrils flare as he tried to remember to breathe. Relena obviously didn't know the slant the photographer had taken with the film. The poses were mostly innocent – a pen lightly pressed to the tip of her lip, her eyes stared at something off camera in what seemed to be a thoughtful expression. But the photographer didn't care what Relena was thinking about or studying. The lecherous lens caressed her curves through a cream colored blouse, and focused on the deep red of her painted lips. Her hair was teased a bit to give her a wild look, and the makeup was too dark - easily explained, of course: "It has to be dramatic to show up on camera."

Heero snarled. She had been tricked, he was sure of it. Tricked and taken advantage of. _Preventer isn't doing their job._

His eyes narrowed at the slick magazine on the floor. He retrieved it and brought the publication over to the table to examine with a magnifying glass. The freelance photographer's name was in tiny print near the margin: Jeffrey L. Cole. He could go hack some banking mainframes to trace him, but the name was too common looking, and would take hours, days even, to track down. He snatched the rag magazine up under his arm and headed back towards the door.

_It's none of my business…_

He scowled and threw the wooden panel against the frame.

_Like hell it's not._

* * *

Heero had barely tramped through the doorway of Duo's office at Preventer Headquarters when he flung the offensive piece of garbage at his friend's desk. The man with the long chestnut braid reeled back, and turned his open-mouth gaze towards the intruder. The door rattled when Heero slammed it shut behind him.

"Geez louise! What the hell's your problem?" Duo exclaimed. He eyed the crumpled magazine like the old-style alarm clock Heero got him for Christmas last year. The former Zero pilot had installed the batteries, and wrapped it, not so much as a gift for Duo as it was for himself.

"Never mind." The braid-wearing Preventer lowered his voice to a sigh. "That was a loaded question if I ever heard one."

"Page fifty-three." Heero stepped further into the room, then detoured to take his customary posture against the wall: arms crossed, head bowed, eyes closed.

"Fifty sexiest stars? When did you start care—"

Heero's head shot up; he opened his eyes so he could glare at his friend. "PAGE. fifty-three."

"Ooooooooookay. Page fifty-three…" Duo licked his thumb and started turning pages.

Heero closed his eyes and counted under his breath._ One….two…_

"WOW! Is that Princess? Our Princess?"

"I want you to dig up what you can about the photographer. I need an address, phone number, anything traceable. The magazine office should have that information."

"Woah woah woah. Back up the boat, here. Why exactly do you need to trace the photographer?" Duo held up the despicable rag and pointed. "She looks hot, Heero. That's the point of the article."

Heero snarled. "I know the point of the article. But it's clear that she wasn't aware of the photographer's objective. What do you think this will do to her career?"

"Give it a boost, I'd say." Duo leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. The braid-wearing moron had the gall to flip through the journal like Heero had just brought over the latest issue of Counterterrorism & Defense Monthly.

"I think you're overreacting."

Heero's eyes narrowed. "I just want to…" He ground his teeth together. "Talk with him."

Duo stopped perusing the magazine and looked over at Heero. The former Zero pilot could have sworn he saw the color drain from his friend's cheeks.

"Uhhhhh, are you referring to that activity which usually requires movement of the lips and not words hissed out from between clenched teeth?" His feet dropped to the floor and he sat up in his chair. "Or are you referring to a discussion of the lead variety?"

"The photos have been touched up."

"So?" Duo shrugged. "A lot of photos get touched up. It's the biz, as they say."

Heero stood up from the wall. "Look at her lipstick. It's too red. Relena never wears that color."

"So? They made her lips a little redder."

"A lot redder."

Duo threw the magazine down on to the desk. "Big deal!"

"Look to her right. See the jacket on her chair?" Heero crossed the room to stand beside the other man's desk.

Duo peered down at the magazine in front of him. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I know that suit. The skirt in the picture is missing four inches."

"What?"

"Four inches, Maxwell." Heero stabbed his index finger at the picture. "She wears that skirt to work, and you know as well as I do that ESUN's Congressional bylaws include a dress code. A dress code that forbids skirts shorter then one inch above the knee." He held the magazine up directly in front of Duo's face. "That skirt is barely to mid thigh. They doctored the photo."

Duo grabbed the publication from Heero's hands. He looked up. "B-but how can you tell?"

"I can't. I just know."

Duo stared at the picture for a moment before placing it back down. "So, you want me to go get info on this photographer guy so you can talk to him about erasing Relena's skirt."

"Maxwell, if he's erasing part of her skirt in these photos, imagine what else he can erase for the right price." Heero crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk.

"Ohhhh shit."

"If he hasn't already."

Duo slumped in his chair. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. So, where am I going, and whose wheels do I need to grease?"

"Here's the address and the contact." Heero handed him a slip of paper. "I'm going to talk to Une, but I'll be waiting for you to get back."

Duo glanced at the page then looked up at his friend. "Guess I'd better not return empty-handed, then, huh?" He held up a hand. "You don't have to answer that. I know, I know." He got up and walked towards the door, stopping only to grab his Preventer jacket from the coat tree in the corner.

Heero closed his eyes and waited for the usual complaint.

"You're just not human."

There it was. It was never a complete visit until Duo had uttered those words at least once in the course of their conversation.

"Other guys would just tell the girl how they feel about her, but not you. No, you just shut her out and leave her shivering in the cold, and then want to kill any guy that dares to look at her."

He spoke slowly to keep his voice sounding calm and even. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh sure. I'm sure I don't. The great gundam pilot Heero Yuy doesn't have any feelings, I forgot."

He whirled around. "Shut the fuck up. You don't have any idea what I've sacrificed for her."

Duo held up both hands. "I'm sure you've done the noble deed and all pal-oh, but maybe you should have asked her first if she wanted you to make whatever sacrifice you think you have."

"I did the right thing. She'll find someone else. And I…" He stumbled on the words. "I can live with that."

"But this isn't living. I hate to say it, but…" Duo shook his head. "You've been dead for a long time. She's the only thing that keeps you breathing."

Heero turned away.

"Well, these touching moments are always a thrill. I'm off to go locate the corpse formerly known as Jeffrey L. Cole and deliver the bad news. I'll be back in a few hours. Wish me luck!"

Heero glared at his friend's retreating back. _A breathing dead man._ That struck too close to home. How many times had he considered ending it all only to be stopped by an image of sadness in her eyes?

_"I don't want to be on someone's pedestal, Heero." She crushed her lips and her body against him. His hands found their way to her waist and his tongue slid into her mouth. She tasted like sweet champagne and strawberries. They paused for breath and then he seized her lips with renewed fervor until she finally broke away._

_"I'm real, can't you see that?" She held his gaze even with every inch of her pressed against him. "I'm human - living, breathing flesh and bone. Just like you." She kissed him again. _

_He felt his head begin to spin. He should stop this. He shouldn't want to…. _

_Heero pushed her away. "You're not like me." He shook his head. His hands gripped her elbows and held her an arm's length away._

_"Just like you." She took a step forward, slipping easily through his grasp and embraced him again. _

_"Who decided one life could be more valuable than another? Who decided that I can't be with you if that's what I choose? What you choose? What we choose?" _

_He turned away and brought a hand up to his face. "Relena, I can't." Heero straightened his shoulders. "Your position…"_

The memory skipped forward straight to the words that made his fists clench and his stomach lurch.

_"I have no desire for a deeper relationship between us, Relena."_

A growl erupted from his throat and he stomped out of Duo's office to find Colonel Une. It was time they had a little 'chat' about Relena's security.

* * *

By 3pm, Relena Darlian had usually accomplished more than most people did in an entire day. She had to. Because from 3pm to 7pm could easily be spent doing a myriad of activities: attending Congressional meetings, listening in on her twice-weekly conference call with Colony diplomats, or giving the occasional public speech. Today, the colony leaders were on hold, and she had been pulled out of a Congressional hearing, on granted, something she really had nothing to do with, but had to attend because someone thought she might have intelligent insight into the affair. Relena held the phone a foot away from her ear and could still hear her publicist's shouting.

"If you don't do it for anyone else, please, I'm begging you, consider my career!"

She took a deep breath and counted to three. "John, calm down."

"If you ever fire me, I'll never work in this town again! WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"

"Are you through?"

He sighed into the mouthpiece on the other end. "Yes, I'm through."

"Now, tell me what the problem is." She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

"Relena, say you're in love with the guy and I'll lay off, but—"

Her eyes flew open. "In love with…Tim?"

"BUT, I don't think you are."

"I'm not."

"Good! Then the sooner you dump him the better."

She swallowed. "I would say I don't understand, but…"

"He's using you to boost his image so he can get a lighter sentence, maybe probation, on the drug possession charges. That's all he's after."

Relena leaned back again into the cushion of her chair. She didn't know if John expected the news to bother her, or not - but it didn't. "I see."

"I know you're going through a rebellious phase right now…"

She shot upright in her seat. "Rebellious phase? Mr. Parker—"

"Don't get upset, Relena. But look at the guys you've been dating recently. They are not good for your image, much less your career. Oh, and that magazine spread you did, the 50 sexiest stars, that…" He wheezed, paused to breathe, and then raised his voice again, anyway. "Just, don't DO that kind of stuff without checking with me first!"

"So what I want doesn't matter."

_To hell with position, Heero!_

"It's not that, Relena." His tone softened somewhat. "If I thought you had an ounce of romantic emotion for any one of these guys, I wouldn't fight you on it. You know that. I'd do my job and advise, not try to overrule."

_You have more faith than some people I know._

"But I can tell. You just don't have that light in your eyes anymore, and for the life of me, I don't know why. Your actions lately, your choice in escort…"

She bristled. "My choice in escort is exactly that. MY choice. If I wanted to go to a charity ball with a homeless man, it shouldn't be of anyone else's concern."

"Relena, it shouldn't matter who you want to spend your time with - to an extent. The company you keep reflects a lot about your character. Homeless, penniless, shameless, it doesn't matter. What people are going to see is the way you look at him. If you can love him, they'll accept him. It may take some time, but they will."

She swallowed against a lump that swelled in her throat. "Do you really believe that?"

"I do. You're a wonderful, compassionate young woman who has earned the trust and heart of the people. When you fall in love, they'll see him through your eyes, and they won't be able to help but love him, too. But we're not seeing love." His voice turned harsh again. "We're seeing hoodlums and inappropriately dressed…scumbags, and swine photographers." John growled into the phone. "Don't get me started on him. I have to go for a meeting at Preventer tomorrow over that damn photographer that Key set you up with."

He paused and took in a breath. "But the point is, Relena, you're tarnishing your image."

She frowned. "This isn't about my image."

"It IS about your image. You're doing this on purpose, and I don't understand why." His voice escalated once more. "Why, Relena? Do you hate yourself or your job so much that you're going to lower yourself, disgrace yourself, ruin your career? For Christ's sake, Key is up on charges of drug possession! You've always stuck to a strict anti-drug platform. Is the word hypocrisy really something you want associated with your name?" John panted into the phone.

"No, it isn't." She closed her eyes again.

_Heero, I want to be with you. Whatever it takes…. The world doesn't matter if I can't—_

_"Don't say it, Relena." _

_Don't say what? That I lo--_

"Fine. I won't see Mr. Key any more. Is that what you want to hear?"

"Yes. That, and I want you to be more careful about whom you date."

_"It's a useless dream, Relena. People still think of you as a queen. You were born into royalty, have been a heroine for the masses who still need you. And they need you more than I do."_

_But I need you…._

She shook her head. "I won't promise that, John. I will date whomever I choose."

He sighed. "That's fine. Just make better choices. That's all I'm asking."

Relena rolled her eyes. She knew he was only trying to do his job, but it was still tiresome when he pretended not to understand. "I need to contact Mr. Key and cancel our engagement tomorrow evening. It's too late to find a new escort, so I'll be going alone. Again."

"You'll be fine. And allow me to call Mr. Key." She could hear the smile in his voice. Her publicist hated Tim Key.

_I wonder what Heero thinks of him…._

"I can handle it."

"But I'd really really like to," John huffed.

"Fine. Just, be gentle."

He snorted into the mouthpiece. Relena heard him say something in a derogatory tone about 'gentle, yeah sure, ' then hung up.

She sat there and stared at the phone.

_"When you fall in love, they'll see him through your eyes, and they won't be able to help but love him, too."_

"What are you so scared of, Heero? Do you really care so little about me?" She remembered his eyes when she had kissed him - it was like she had stabbed him, or worse: betrayed him. He had removed himself from her guard duty after that night.

One way or another, Heero. I'll come down from that pedestal. You may not be able to love me, but…

She bowed her head and clasped her hands in her lap. _I won't let my career, or this 'image' ruin my chance at happiness forever. _

_No matter what the cost._


	3. When it comes to loving you

**Shameless**

by the Black Rose

Chapter 2 – When it comes to loving you

Heero stormed into the Colonel's office. He didn't let the Head of the Preventer Organization get up from her desk or have a single second to counter his attack. He caught her in the middle of a conference call on her videocomm, yanked the power cord, and slammed the magazine down in front of her face.

"Your people aren't doing their job."

Une stared up at him. "You just hung up on Senator Neuvième of the Inter-Colony Defense Council. I could have you court marshaled for that."

"Your people. Aren't doing. Their job."

The head of the Preventer organization stood up from her chair and shot him a scathing look. "My people always do their job." She leaned over her desk and spoke in a low, menacing tone. "One hundred percent, Commander. If you have a problem—"

Heero tore open the magazine to page fifty-three and held it out to the Colonel. She glanced at it, and then back at her subordinate.

"She didn't clear that with our staff." She rose to her full height and crossed her arms. "It was done on her own personal time. What are we supposed to do, Commander, babysit her?"

"If that's what it takes."

Une sat back down in her chair. "You're unreasonable. The Vice Foreign Minister is a grown woman. Our responsibility is to protect her from bodily harm. Not police her personal life in order to prevent any possible mistakes."

Heero leaned down over her desk. "The Preventer charter states its responsibility is to ensure the public safety and protect. On more than one occasion, you have extended that to investigate fraud and libel."

"This, Commander, is a picture." She pointed at the shameful, degrading thing. "It is not fraud, and it is not defamation of character."

He narrowed his eyes. "The photographers credentials don't check."

"I am aware of that. Her publicist, Mr. Parker, has been contacted and is coming in this afternoon for a conference."

"Not good enough." Heero stood up and crossed his arms. He continued to scowl down at his superior.

"I don't have the authority to go arrest a man who could be a perfectly law-abiding citizen for a couple of photographs merely on your whim, Commander." She turned her attention to shuffling some papers. "You're overstepping your bounds. I will handle this."

He wrenched the pages out of her hands. "I want to return to special detail."

"You took yourself off."

"I want back on."

She glared at him for a moment, then reached over to reclaim the stack of papers from his hands. He gave them up without a fight. "Granted."

That was all he needed to hear. He turned away and started towards the door.

"And Yuy, off the record." Her voice called him to a halt.

He glanced back at her over his left shoulder. "Yeah."

"Fix it."

* * *

Relena brushed her hair out now that it was pleasantly released from the French twist it had been in all day. She sighed. The damned magazine spread was already making headlines. Granted, part of her skirt was missing, and she hadn't known she was showing cleavage at the time, but why was it such a big deal that she looked….

"Trashy." Relena slumped over her hands. She was practically a pinup girl waiting to happen. Or, as her brother had so kindly put it, she looked: "Loose."

_But it's what--_

Relena flicked on the television to drown out the voice of logic before it could surface. The obnoxious jingle of the Celebrity News International show blared from the set. "Oh, wonderful." She shook her head and tossed the remote onto her vanity table. It was sheer, morbid, curiosity that kept her from changing the channel.

"Hot off the magazine presses tonight is a story about the world's favorite prim, pink, princess finally shedding that virginal image and showing some skin in the long anticipated edition of the Fifty Sexiest Stars. CNI went behind the scenes of Celebrity Star Magazine to find out just what the former queen is really made of."

Relena groaned and turned away. She didn't want to actually see the piece of gossip the show passed off as a form of pseudo-journalism.

"From fifteen to one of the fifty sexiest stars, Relena Darlian, the former Queen of the World has held the public's interest in everything from her policy on foreign affairs to the color of her panties."

Relena gasped. "WHAT?"

She spun around just as an image of her – the one from the recent magazine –froze on screen. The camera closed in on the picture; she smiled innocently up from the glossy page, her pose anything but naïve.

"But just how much 'public interest' does the royal twenty-year old woman inspire? And do the sexy snapshots leave this politician overexposed?"

The stills changed to the live feed of a reporter on a city street, at night, just outside a teeming local bar. He held the mic for some attractive, twenty-something guy.

"What do you think of the article?"

The interviewee grinned. "I like it."

"Yeah?" The reporter pulled the microphone back to his face. "What do you like about it?"

The young man held the magazine up towards the camera. "She's, y'know, always in those business suits. BORING. But it was SO OBVIOUS she was hiding a hot bod - somewhere."

The feed cut to another 'on-the-street' interview. Two guys - one blond, one dark-haired - at a party smirked at the reporter.

"Oh yeah, she's hot," the blond one said.

"We always wondered what she wore under that queen dress," the dark-haired one added.

"Dude, I bet it was garters and a thong."

"Nah, I bet she wore nothing at all."

Relena flicked the switch on the remote and sat down on the bed in the dark. Her face burned.

_It's humiliating… I've worked so hard. I had to overcome the fact that I was at first a child, then a woman, in a man's world, but now…_

Her hands twisted the comforter in her lap. She bowed her head and closed her eyes.

_At least they see me as a woman._

* * *

The halls of Preventer Headquarters echoed with only the faint scrape of Heero's shoes. Most of the staff workers had already gone home; the only other sounds to be heard were the dim buzzing noises of computers and appliances. He pushed open the door to Duo's office and glanced at his watch. Maxwell was late.

The disgruntled Preventer shut the door and stomped over to the desk. He sat in the chair, and looked at his watch again. Heero rested his hands on the top of the desk and closed his eyes. No, he couldn't take a nap. He needed to be alert for when Maxwell came back. He glanced around; there were no reading materials, the computer was locked – he could hack into it, but there was really no point. Finally, Heero opened the drawer, picked up the remote, and flipped on the television. He sunk back into his seat and stared in the general vicinity of the screen. _Just until that braided idiot…_

"We always wondered what she wore under that queen dress," a young-sounding male's voice blared from the speakers. Heero's eyes focused on the monitor.

A white, male in his early twenties, wearing spiked up blond hair and a smile that said he thought he was 'God's gift' to something, chuckled into the mic. "Dude, I bet it was garters and a thong."

"Nah, I bet she wore nothing at all."

Heero shot up in his seat and glared as her face came on screen. "Relena…"

"From prim princess to sexy starlet, the queen of the world is finally growing up. When we come back. Celebrating forty years of the magical fingers of pianist and pop icon Billy Joel. Can you answer this trivia question?"

SNAP! Something sharp pierced the skin of his palm.

"Which Billy Joel song topped the charts two years after its original release, sung by another male vocalist?"

_"Now I'm not a man who's ever been insecure about the world that we're livin in. _

_I don't break easy, I have my pride_

_But if you need to be satisfied…"_

"The answer, when we come back, after this commercial break."

Heero glanced down at the remains of the remote control in his hand. A trickle of blood escaped and mingled with the twisted mess of plastic. "Dammit." He pressed the 'Off' button, but nothing happened. He tossed it to the floor and brought the uninjured hand up to his face. Someone was going to pay for this.

_"You see in all my life I've never found _

_What I couldn't resist,_

_What I couldn't turn down,_

_I could walk away from anyone I ever knew_

_But I can't walk away from you…"_

"If you guessed the 1989 hit 'Shameless', you'd be correct."

_"I'm shameless,_

_When it comes to lovin you._

_I'd do anything you want me to._

_I'd do anything at all…"_

"Released on the album _Storm Front_ which soared straight to the top of the charts with the hit single _We didn't start the Fire_, two years later, country music legend Garth Brooks made the lesser known song famous."

_"I never let anything have this much control over me._

_I worked too hard to call my life my own._

_But I made myself a world and it worked so perfectly._

_But it's your world now, I can't refuse. _

_I've never had so much to lose._

_I'm SHAMELESS!"_

"And that's the end of our trivia section. Up next, a look at the life and lyrics of pop-icon and pianist Billy Joel."

_"I'm SHAMELESS!_

_I don't have the power now._

_I don't want it anyhow,_

_So, I gotta let it go…._

_I'm SHAMELESS!_

_Shameless as a man can be._

_You can make a total fool of me,_

_I just wanted you to know…"_

"Sounds like you, buddy." Duo stood in the center of the room, arms crossed, and a closed-mouth smile on his lips.

"You're late."

"Well, good to see you, too." The long-haired man made no move to hand over the requisite, delayed, information.

Heero narrowed his eyes at the lone obstacle separating him from tearing that photographer limb from limb: Duo Maxwell.

The announcer's voice cut through the silence. "Billy Wayne Joel was born—"

Maxwell reached up and hit the button to power off the television. He glanced over at the remnants of the TV clicker on the floor. "Do I even want to know what happened to my remote control?"

Heero cleared his throat. "Substandard manufacturing."

"Yes, well, I'll tell Sony they need to start pressure testing their remotes to withstand being pile-drived against granite at 140 miles per hour."

The former Zero pilot crossed his arms and glared. "I snapped it in half with my bare hands. Your neck could be next."

Duo visibly paled. Heero couldn't help but smirk.

"Jeffrey Cole."

The braid-wearing Preventer tapped a finger to his chin. "Is it considered aiding and abetting to point a known killer in the direction of the man threatening the image of the girl said killer is in love with?"

"Would you prefer to help get me back in practice?"

"How many times have you threatened to kill me in this conversation already?"

"Two. I can make it three. Jeffrey Cole."

"I think that was three. Here." Duo tossed Heero a disk. The Preventer caught it and nodded in his friend's direction.

"What's on it?" He stuffed the square, plastic, and out-dated thing into his jacket pocket.

Duo flopped down in one of the 'guest chairs' in his office. "I got the bookkeeper to do a little investigative work. We tracked the check she cut for the soon to be ex-Mr. Cole to the bank where he cashed it." The Preventer clasped his hands behind his neck and continued to recite his informal report. "He, big surprise, had no account, so they got a thumb print for the file. The bank sent along a scan of the print, the signature on the check, a still from their security camera clearly showing his face, AND, this is the part where you're going to be really impressed." Maxwell sat up from his relaxed pose and grinned.

Heero crossed his arms and glared.

Duo's shoulders slumped. "You're just not human, you know, that? It's not normal, this not being human. You really should go see a doctor for that. Maybe there's a topical cream or--"

"Maxwell."

"Why do I bother?" The long-haired Preventer ran a hand through his bangs and stared up at the ceiling. Heero recognized that as his friend's 'why me?' look. Yes, the American idiot was so put upon by the proclaimed inhumane one. Whatever.

"There's another pic. One of Jeff and your friend Mr. Key, getting in to a car in the parking lot of the bank. We did a little photo enhancement, and got the license plate number. It doesn't belong to Key."

Heero would have smiled if it wasn't against his nature. "That's what I needed." He moved quickly towards the door.

"Why thank you, Duo, you're amazing." His friend's voice sneered behind him. "Good work, pal. I really owe you one. I'm so glad I can always count on you…"

Heero turned in the doorway to level a glare at his friend. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the panel shut behind him with a bang.

It opened a second later. Heero was halfway down the hall.

"A simple thank you wouldn't kill you, you know! I worked my ass off for that information!"

Heero kept walking.

"Argggggh! I give up! You just are NOT HUMAN! And someday, you're going to look around you, and there's not going to be anyone there. You'll be alone with no friends, and definitely no girlfriend because Relena will find someone else and forget all about the cold sonofabitch who can't own up to his feelings for her. And I won't blame her one bit!"

Heero's heart felt like it just stopped right at that moment. His feet stuck to the floor. "I won't, either."

"See! That's exactly what I mean. Right there. You're supposed to fight for her. What's wrong with you?"

The former Zero pilot pivoted slowly back towards the office and met Duo's gaze. His friend was shaking one fist in the air; his other hand gripped the knob on the door with white knuckles.

"You said it before." Heero turned around but paused before walking away. "Thank you."

He strode quickly down the hallway, but didn't make it out of the building before Duo's voice reached him from a distance away.

"What do you mean I said it before? What does that mean?" There was a brief pause as if he actually expected Heero to turn around and answer.

"And..and you're welcome, you big idiot! Sheesh, I never thought I'd see the day…"

And finally, a very faint: "I need a drink."

The former Zero pilot threw open the exit door, one hand still clutching the disk in his pocket. Heero snarled.

_Jeffrey Cole. Your ass is mine._

* * *

AN: Stay tuned for Chapter 3 in the next edition. But for now, a little preview:

"Why isn't Heero on the duty roster for the trip to New York?" Relena asked the female Head of the Preventer Organization. "I thought he was back on rotation."

"He traded weeks." Une's voice held the crisp tone of a commander, but her eyes avoided Relena's gaze. "He said he couldn't be away right now. Some sort of personal business."


End file.
